The 2026 Scholarship Competition

The 2026 Evanston Music Club/North Shore Musicians Club Scholarship Competition is open to students attending Northwestern, DePaul, Roosevelt CCPA, North Park and Northeastern Illinois Universities. Vocalists between the ages of 18 and 28 and all other musicians between 18 and 25 are eligible to apply. The application deadline is March 13, 2026. Those chosen to audition will be notified by March 31, 2026.

Contestants should prepare a 12-minute program and should draw from music of different periods or styles. Singers should include an aria from an opera or oratorio. Each applicant must provide an accompanist if needed. Former winners of scholarships from the Evanston Music Club or the North Shore Musicians Club are not eligible.

Auditions will be held at the Skokie Public Library on Wednesday, April 22, 2026.

Five finalists will be awarded $1400 each following a required live performance. The in-person concert and reception will be held at the Skokie Public Library on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in the early afternoon.

 

A fillable application form is available at https://www.evanstonmusicclub.org/application-2026.pdf.  This form can be downloaded, then completed and saved as a pdf named “last name first initial.pdf”.  Return the application and a 1-2 page resume to Kathleen Rundell at [email protected]. The resume should include a summary of your music education, where you are or have been in school, name(s) of your teacher(s), and any awards or honors you have won and information on your tentative selections for audition.